


Thanksgiving

by quandong_crumble



Series: I am come home [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Less than 1000 words, M/M, Warning: homophobia, Young Love, college-age Tony & Rhodey, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-02
Updated: 2013-11-02
Packaged: 2017-12-31 05:33:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1027817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quandong_crumble/pseuds/quandong_crumble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it's not about where you spend the holiday, but who you spend it with.</p>
<p>Or: Rhodey and Tony refuse to let Howard Stark's behaviour ruin their Thanksgiving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thanksgiving

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the overwhelming response this got on Tumblr, I've decided to post it up on the archive. Sorry it's so short.

Silence shouldn’t be deafening.

It’s not really silence anyway. Jim can hear the cars passing them on the street, hear their footsteps, hear Tony’s forcibly controlled breathing. It’s heavy and measured and Jim knows without looking that Tony’s jaw is locked rigid and he’s staring forward in that completely unblinking way he does when he’s upset.

He can still hear Mr Stark’s slurred words, even more cutting for how calmly they were uttered— _disgusting, faggots, not in my house, get out, disappointed, thought you had integrity, get out_ —and Mrs Stark’s startled gasp. They’re playing in his head like a skipping record. He can only imagine how loud they are in Tony’s mind. It wasn’t like they were caught doing anything, just kissing. It’s 1988, two fellas should be able to kiss if they want, right?

He wants to reach out, touch Tony’s elbow and then slide his grip down Tony’s arm until he can hold his hand. He wants to say something to break the silence. Everything feels too fragile, though, like if he touches Tony one or both of them will break. So he just keeps walking, matching his gait to Tony’s, keeping his eyes ahead and his mouth shut. He tries to block those poisonous words out of his head, drown them with the sounds of the street, the sounds of their footsteps. He’s listening so hard he notices Tony’s breathing calm, degree by degree, until it’s natural again.

“You good?” He finally asks, just to break the silence.

“Yeah,” Tony says. He makes a noise that’s probably supposed to be a laugh but it’s too raw and choked and it sounds more like a sob. “So much for Thanksgiving at Casa Stark, huh?”

“Yeah.” Jim sidles closer without breaking his stride, so that their elbows brush. He turns his next words over and over in his mind, not sure he wants to ask, but eventually he says, “Do you think he’s calmed down now?”

“Probably,” Tony says. “I don’t want to go back. It’s just going to be awkward.”

“What do you want?” Jim asks.

Tony’s sigh hangs in the air, somehow oppressing, even though it’s not cold enough for his breath to be visible. “Let’s go back,” he says eventually.

They turn to retrace their steps, and this time Tony presses close to Jim’s side. He’s grateful for the warmth, even more grateful for the contact, the intimacy, and that Tony’s bold enough to push this close in public so soon after hearing those venomous words from his father. Tony’s hand worms into the pocket of his jacket, cold fingers tangling with his own.

“It could be worse,” Jim says, trying to lighten to mood.

“How?” Tony asks.

“It could be raining.”

Tony laughs, and it’s genuine this time, even if it’s only a short chuckle. Their first kiss had been while sacked out on the couch watching _Young Frankenstein_ at three in the morning, and somehow that line had become their catchphrase. It never fails to get at least a smile from him. He squeezes Jim’s hand. 

They walk in silence, hand in hand, until the mansion comes back into view. “I wish we’d gone to your place instead,” Tony says suddenly.

Jim opens his mouth to agree, and closes it again. He thinks of his mother’s voice on the phone when she told him to have fun at the Starks’, how wistful she sounded.

“Let’s go,” he says instead. He’s already working out what to say to his mom on the phone, how happy she’ll be to squeeze two extra people around the table. 

“What?” Tony asks, but he’s already smiling a bit. “We can just do that?”

“We can! Let’s call mom, grab our bags and go. It’s not that far to Philly.”

Tony’s grin makes Jim feel kind of warm and gooey inside and he thinks, not for the first time, that he might just be in love with the brat. He checks up and down the street, but there’s no one terribly close to them, no one watching anyway, and he plants a kiss right on that smile. 

Screw Howard Stark, they’re going to have a happy Thanksgiving after all.


End file.
